Department spokespersons would not confirm or deny these reports. Land Bank head of corporate communications Musa Mchunu simply said Dr Mohlahlane had been seconded to the Land Bank in mid-2007 for a short period before returning to the agriculture department, after which he was put on special leave while his activities at the Land Bank were scrutinised by forensic investigators.
Dr Mohlahlane’s term at the Land Bank was clouded in controversy, complete with allegations of sexual harassment, using a cancelled identity document, irregular awarding of tenders and mismanagement, as well as a damning forensic report into an AgriBEE fund which accompanied him from the agriculture department to the Land Bank.
DA agriculture spokesperson Dr Kraai van Niekerk said that he would not be surprised if Dr Mohlahlane had been fired. “He has been an embarrassment to government and at last it seems they are taking the facts to book,” said Dr Van Niekerk. “Dr Mohlahlane has been involved in many suspicious activities. He is well-trained theoretically and his CV reads like a magic book but even there, there is doubt. And incidentally, he’s a very close confidant of the minister.”
In March 2008, allegations surfaced of an affair between Agriculture minister Lulama Xingwana and Dr Mohlahlane. Xingwana said at the time that their relationship was strictly professional, but court papers filed in the Johannesburg High Court by Dr Mohlahlane’s estranged wife, Joyce, alleged the two had been having an affair since 2006.
